Mika KO'd in title chase, despite win

Hakkinen scored his first victory in nearly a year and then joked he had pushed right to the flag because he wanted to have a cup of tea before Michael Schumacher's Ferrari crossed the line. The McLaren-Mercedes driver put in a blistering performance to win by a massive 34 seconds. Not since his triumph in Belgium last August has he won a race.

His 19th victory was his first on British soil - but even so his title hopes have finally, officially, died. He now trails Schumacher by 65 points, with only 60 up for grabs in the last six races.

"It feels really good to finally win one after all our troubles this year," said Hakkinen, who had scored only nine points prior to Silverstone. "It was good to win it this year and particularly at Silverstone, driving for an English team and in front of an English crowd. We put on a great show.

"I wanted to push really hard so I had time to have a cup of tea before Michael got back," he quipped. "Hopefully there will be more wins towards the end of the season."

With 10 points earned for his day's work, Hakkinen has scored more points in this one race than he did in the last 10. He said his sudden turn around in form after a lacklustre 10-race run was down to an improved set-up of the car.

"Before this Grand Prix we had a very good test with a good balance," he said, "and the tyres suited my driving style so I could attack the corner and had a car that didn't understeer so much. I could choose the cornering line I wanted. That explains my speed here.

"I've always wanted to win in Canada and I did that a couple of years ago and it was very special and it was the same with Silverstone this time," he added. "It is something incredible and something that was missing from my black book."

Hakkinen took the lead from Schumacher on lap five - a move he regarded as crucial to the outcome of the race.

"That was crucial because it would have been very difficult to win otherwise, since I was on a two stop strategy and he was on one," he explained.

Afterwards, the two-time world champion admitted he slowed fractionally for the final lap because fears of the final lap breakdown in Spain earlier in the year still haunt him.